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Meaning of Cowardice
We describe cowardice as a trait whereby excessive fear prevents an individual from taking a risk or facing danger. We also describe cowardice as a lack of courage. Society generally frowns upon cowardice. Society associates cowardice with negative attributes such as fear, weakness, selfishness, failure and shame.
Meaning of Courage
On the other hand, we describe courage as the attitude of facing and dealing with anything recognised as dangerous, difficult or painful instead of withdrawing from it.
The Ideals of Courage
Whereas we generally frown upon cowardice, we idealise courage. We associate courage with positive attributes such as bravery, strength, respect and selflessness.
A courageous person will stand up for what is right and oppose what is wrong. Similarly, a courageous person is reliable and will not abandon others who rely on him or her. In the same vein, a courageous person will not only think of his or her own selfish needs. A courageous person also commands respect as a leader. Such a person is bold in taking decisions and eschews timidity.
The Pitfalls of Courage
But could there be some disadvantages of courage? Can we carry courage too far? We see the pitfalls of courage in its extreme forms such as bravado, recklessness and obsession.
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- Bravado
We define bravado as a pretence of courage, self-confidence and bravery especially when unnecessary and dangerous. We show bravado in order to impress other people. Bravado can be very dangerous and can lead to deadly consequences.
Rich Gasaway in “Duty to Die Syndrome”, defines bravado as the purposeful ignorance of critical signs of danger coupled with a sense of invincibility. He notes that a person displaying bravado is not concerned with his or her own safety. That person is rather only concerned with looking courageous. He states that this does not make that person brave, but dangerous.
He states that for instance, a first responder gripped by bravado may miss or disregard critical clues and cues which are signs of danger. This is because the first responder narrowly focuses on performing a heroic task and thereby misses critical deadly clues and cues. The first responder may also see the critical deadly clues and cues and with conscious awareness, choose to ignore them. This is because the first responder may believe that the critical deadly clues and cues are not as bad as they appear and may thereby dismiss them.
These scenarios show the dangers of bravado which is a pitfall of courage.
- Recklessness
Recklessness is a lack of regard for the danger or consequences of one’s actions. We may also describe recklessness as rashness. In a bid to appear courageous, a person may go too far and be a daredevil, that is, a reckless person who enjoys doing dangerous things. A person may also be foolhardy, that is, recklessly bold or rash.
Alexander Pope in “An Essay on Criticism”, perceives recklessness or rashness as foolish. He states that, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”. This alludes to inexperienced or rash people attempting things that more experienced people avoid.
- Obsession
We may also carry courage too far through obsession. An obsession is an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person’s mind.
Where courage becomes an obsession, all rational thought flies out of the window. This can result in dire consequences. A person who is obsessed with being courageous is not likely to analyse his or her course of action. This may result in a mistake occurring.
The Wisdom of Cowardice
We see the wisdom of cowardice in its attributes of self-preservation, restraint and conflict avoidance. These are three amazing reasons to be a smart coward.
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- Reason 1 : Self-preservation
Self-preservation is the natural or instinctive tendency to act so as to preserve oneself from destruction or harm. We also know self-preservation as a survival instinct.
Steven Uhles describes cowardice as being an extreme sense of self-preservation in “Being a Coward has some Advantages in Life and on Film” in The Augusta Chronicle. The coward, not wanting to get into any kind of trouble, is more likely to maintain the status quo. By not rocking the boat, the coward is in keeping with the tendency to preserve his or her own existence.
The British philosopher, Bertrand Russell, expresses a similar view of cowardice involving the preservation of one’s existence and keeping one from harm in “The Advantage of Cowardice.” According to him, whenever organisation exists, we will find cowardice to be more advantageous than courage.
He notes that the result of this state of affairs is that in practically every walk of life, the men who come to the top have served a long apprenticeship in cowardice. He notes that on the other hand, we will have to seek for the honest and courageous in workhouses and prisons.
Self-preservation therefore appears to help the coward to achieve his or her aims in life and to avoid unpleasant situations. This shows the wisdom of cowardice.
- Reason 2 : Restraint
We describe restraint as an emotional, dispassionate or moderate behaviour. We also describe restraint as self-control This is the ability to control oneself, in particular one’s emotions and desires, especially in difficult situations.
The coward, in espousing moderate behaviour, is more likely to exercise restraint and retreat in the face of danger rather than charge forward to meet the danger head-on. We describe this behaviour of the coward as courageous. Sirajuddin Aziz in “Courage and Cowardice”, (Money Matters) states that there are times when it is courageous to be a coward and that sensing danger in the way forward and retreating is not a U-turn but a courageous act.
The coward, in exercising restraint, is also more likely to fully ponder over the facts of the matter before taking any course of action. The English actor, Peter Ustinov, has this to say: “Courage is often a lack of insight, whereas cowardice in many cases is based on good information.”
We may also regard the restraint of the coward as cautiousness. According to the Afghan American novelist, Khaled Hosseini, there is “Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence.” This statement presents cowardice as acceptable when accompanied with prudence and shows the wisdom of cowardice.
- Reason 3 : Conflict avoidance
Conflict avoidance is a person’s method of relating to conflict, which attempts to avoid directly confronting the issue at hand. Methods of doing this include changing the subject, postponing a discussion or simply not bringing up the subject of contention.
The coward is prone to choosing to avoid conflict rather than confronting it. We may see this choice as beneficial where the conflict does not solve the problem at hand. According to Paul Bright in “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Conflict Styles”, the advantage of avoidance is that it can be useful if the conflict will not produce a resolution toward the goal or the conflict is perceived as minimal.
Conflict avoidance also prevents the coward from fighting unnecessary battles. This saves time and energy and enables him or her to focus on what is important in life.
The author, C. JoyBell C. , expresses this view as follows: “Choose your battles wisely. After all, life isn’t measured by how many times you stood up to fight. It’s not winning battles that makes you happy, but it’s how many times you turned away and chose to look into a better direction. Life is too short to spend it on warring. Find only the most, most, most important ones, let the rest go.”
The advantages of the choice of conflict avoidance by the coward and its resultant prevention of unnecessary battles being fought show the wisdom of cowardice.
In conclusion we may say that although cowardice is perceived as negative, in many ways it may be a smarter choice than courage. These are three amazing reasons to support being a smart coward.
Shall we raise a toast to cowardice?
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This is an excellent article.
I do not consider what some see or define as cowardice weak.
We all need restraint and walking away to avoid confrontation or remaining silent sometimes and so on are very wise decisions and wise actions in various situations of circumstance.
False bravado and recklessness are for fools who prove nothing.
Hahaha 😄
False bravado and recklessness are indeed for fools.
Some people spend their lives fighting battles they should never have started in the first place.
Wisdom and restraint is key, as you rightly noted ✅️ 👌
This is such a nice and balanced article, as always. It reminds me of Okonkwo in “Things Fall Apart”. His extraordinary courage that brought him into the limelight also led him into his early grave, where some amount of cowardice would have helped.
Without courage of the likes of Christopher Columbus, The American Astronauts that went on the Moon, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and a host of others, our world wouldn’t have been complete. We however need cowardice to sometimes preserve our own lives and that of others. Take the COVID-19 Pandemic for instance. Bravado, invincibility and recklessness in the face of this Global Pandemic have led to the rapid spread of the disease and sent tens of thousands of people into the grave.
In my opinion, we need both courage and cowardice at different times and in different situations. Finding the right balance is the difficult thing.
2 Timothy 1:7, reminds us that God gave us a spirit not of cowardice but of courage, power, love and self-control.
Cowardice is a trait of not telling the truth. It’s living a lie-life. This limits and slows progress. Being courageous is being sincere to yourself and the world.
Thanks for the knowledge shared madam!
Thanks for your comments
Sometimes where I have to be strong and fight. There are those when i need to be even stronger and push the brakes, reassess life, and let go of the unnecessary clutter. Times that call for resignation.
it’s not usually called “resignation” at that point. The compromising word is replaced with phrases like “just let go”, “take it easy”, and “release the toxic people, situations, thoughts, etc. in your life”
Being honest with people we care for is hard. But there’s nothing more challenging than being completely, up-front, hard-core honest with ourselves.
When we finally make that choice, forget about public reaction. Just go with the truth. Especially if you’re tolerating emotional or physical abuse, remember there are no ugly words or embarrassing choices. There are just deeds done too late.
There are people, things, and moments worth cherishing forever. Then, there are those it’s better to let go of, leave, resign and never look back.
Thanks for your comments
This is such a nice and balanced article, as always. It reminds me of Okonkwo in “Things Fall Apart”. His extraordinary courage that brought him into the limelight also led him into his early grave, where some amount of cowardice would have helped.
Without courage of the likes of Christopher Columbus, The American Astronauts that went on the Moon, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and a host of others, our world wouldn’t have been complete. We however need cowardice to sometimes preserve our own lives and that of others. Take the COVID-19 Pandemic for instance. Bravado, invincibility and recklessness in the face of this Global Pandemic have led to the rapid spread of the disease and sent tens of thousands of people into the grave.
In my opinion, we need both courage and cowardice at different times and in different situations. Finding the right balance is the difficult thing.
Errrr I don’t know if I agree with you on this one Heidi. Like you correctly pointed out carrying out courageous deeds in a reckless or boisterous fashion is analogous with foolhardy behaviour but it took courage for frontline workers to stand up to covid or Ebola. It took courage for the allied forces to storm the beaches of Normandy to defeat Hitler’s army of darkness. It took courage for Mandela to go to jail for 26yrs or for christ to die for our sins. The cumulative outcome of these utilitarian acts made our fragile world a better place. Cowardice according to Nietzsche can be described as morality for the weak. Now there’s virtue in restraint and the avoidance of conflict. If I may quote Bruce Lee ‘ the art of fighting without fighting’ is not an illustration of cowardice per se but diffusing conflict through a pacifism. Gandhi called it civil disobedience which is actually a function of courage really but the lot of a coward is usually stagnant and unproductive. Of course there’s some modicum of virtue to everything under the sun but the fate of cowards if history is anything to go by isn’t good. Eventhough I walk through the valley of death I shall fear no evil. What do you think a mantra for the brave and courageous or the refrain of the fearful and the cowardly?
Very insightful points. Thanks for your comments.
Let’s stick to the basic meanings without the standard errors. Intrinsic in every principle is it’s weakness and strength. There’s a price to pay for every choice and principle that one opts to live by whether Good or bad.What matters most is the purpose overall whether it’s a laudable cause or beneficial to society. Glorify not timidity because of the risk associated with courage!
Thanks for your comments.
‘He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day” is a popular saying underscoring the wisdom in taking calculated risks. It is no cowardice retreating when for lack of the necessary resources to overcome a situation, one withdraws to prepare better. Could you imagine the folly of rushing into the ocean to rescue a drowning person when the rescuer cannot swim?
Conversely some level of adventure is rewarding and must be the hallmark of every man. David wouldn’t have defeated Goliath if he had allowed himself to be overwhelmed by the outward fortification of Goliath. In all cases of exhibiting courage, we need the leading of God.
Thanks for your comments.
Interesting comparison, however I like the way you did define all terms. Courage as in the military is always warranted in my opinion. It’s not to impress or show off but to do their job. For those who do dangerous things to show off in my opinion are reckless and that I will not define them as courageous. They do those things only for their self interest. Whiles the true courageous folks do what they have to do for a reason and good order of all
Very true. Thanks for your comment.
Prov 22:13 The sluggard/coward says : ‘ There is a lion outside. I’ ll be killed in the public square! ‘. Cowardice therefore has a crippling/paralyzing effect. It does not kindle hope, but kills initiative.
Joshua 1:9. Courage is not an option: it is a command! Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the ability to get a grip on fear, in order to make progress.
Whereas cowardice saps every energy in us, leaving our tanks empty, courage fills us up with hope and enthusiasm. It gives us the verve to look forward to the future. Courage keeps our hopes alive
Thanks for your comments
I agree with you. However, even in the military, they assess the situation and decide whether to forge ahead, retreat or even surrender. They do not act in a way that equates to negligent disregard for their own lives and that of others. Take the situation in Rwanda before the genocide for example. After critical assessment, the UN pulled their troops because they felt the situation was too dangerous.
Such a nice article. Balanced view, as always. It reminds me of Okonkwo in “Things Fall Apart”. His courage that brought him into the limelight also led him to his early grave, where some amount of cowardice would have helped.
Without the courage of the likes of Christopher Columbus, The American Astronauts on the Moon 🌒Bill Gates, Steve Jobs et al, our world wouldn’t have been complete.
We however need cowardice to sometimes preserve our own lives and that of others. Bravado and invincibility for instance in face of this Global COVID-19 Pandemic has sent thousands into the grave.
We need both courage and cowardice and different times and in different situations. Finding the right balance is the difficult thing.
Such a nice article. Balanced view, as always. It reminds me of Okonkwo in “Things Fall Apart”. His courage that brought him into the limelight also led him to his early grave, where some amount of cowardice would have helped.
Without the courage of the likes of Christopher Columbus, The American Astronauts on the Moon 🌒Bill Gates, Steve Jobs et al, our world wouldn’t have been complete.
We however need cowardice to sometimes preserve our own lives and that of others. Bravado and invincibility for instance in face of this Global COVID-19 Pandemic has sent thousands into the grave.
We need both courage and cowardice and different times and in different situations. Finding the right balance is the difficult thing.
Nice one once again. A balanced view of both sides of the coin. This reminds me of Okonkwo in “Things Fall Apart”. His courage led him to lofty heights and also brought him down to his early grave. I think we need both courage and cowardice at different times and different situations. How to find the balance is the issue.
If everyone chose cowardice the world would be at a standstill.
Such a nice article. Balanced view, as always. It reminds me of Okonkwo in “Things Fall Apart”. His courage that brought him into the limelight also led him to his early grave, where some amount of cowardice would have helped.
Without the courage of the likes of Christopher Columbus, The American Astronauts on the Moon 🌒Bill Gates, Steve Jobs et al, our world wouldn’t have been complete.
We however need cowardice to sometimes preserve our own lives and that of others. Bravado and invincibility for instance in face of this Global COVID-19 Pandemic have sent thousands into the grave.
We need both courage and cowardice and different times and in different situations. Finding the right balance is the difficult thing.
That is true.